The Subversive Boyhood of Steven Universe

Stop! Giant robots shouldn’t fight!

Steven Universe is an adventure show about

a boy with super powers derived from an

interstellar gemstone in his belly.

But in many ways it’s also a coming-of-age

story about a young man growing up and

trying to find his place in the world.

My gem!

Quick! Try and summon your weapon.

I don't know how.

Ah! It's fading! How do I make it come back?

Calm down, Steven. Breathe. D--

[Group sigh.]

Aww! I was really close that time.

Coming-of-age narratives for boys usually

involve an education in sex, sports,

hunting, or fighting.

Jonathan: These activities are framed as a

sort of rite-of-passage. In stories set in

sci-fi, fantasy, or superhero genres,

combat is almost always the mechanism

through which young men must prove

their worthiness.

This is usually not framed as outright

aggression on the hero’s part, but is

instead justified as the ability to “fight back.”

There are accompanying characteristics like

wit, determination, cleverness or confidence,

but learning how to be “tough" and proficient

in dealing out violence is consistently framed

as a necessary step for boys to complete

their journey into manhood.

As the series begins, Steven Universe appears

to be following in the footsteps of these

well-worn conventions. Steven wants his own

gem-powered weapon to help fight off

monsters like the other Crystal Gems.

But when he finally does conjure his weapon

it isn’t a weapon.

Steven, it’s a shield.

And this is where the series begins to

depart from classic genre expectations.

Rather than being disappointed at not

getting an offensive or aggressive skill,

Steven wholeheartedly embraces his

new defensive superpower.

Steven: Aw, what? I get a shield?

Oh, YEAH!

Hey guys, over here!

This way!

The show continues its subversion of

boy hero tropes when we find out that

Steven is a healer.

What?

I can see without my glasses!

Did I heal your eyes? But, how?

Jonathan: His mother had healing tears,

whereas Steven has...

Steven: The Juice box! I don't have

healing tears! I have healing spit!

Yeah, maybe a little gross. But when you

think about it, that essentially means that

Steven possesses healing kisses,

healing affection.

Yeah! Here goes something new and exciting.

Mmm, and GO!

Okay, you should be better now.

So, Steven’s a healer and his gem power is

centered around shielding others from harm

That’s especially interesting because in

many fantasy stories and video games,

those are both considered to be secondary

or support skills.

Medics and other protective spell casters

have often been gendered roles. They’re

roles that have been filled by women who

stand back and supplement the other warrior

classes, who have traditionally been men.

This convention has begun to change in

recent years, which is a really good sign.

But the gendering of these types of roles

still remains a pervasive pattern in media.

Giving these kinds of support powers to

the male protagonist is a fun if pretty

straightforward inversion. But I’d argue

that Steven has another superpower.

Something that’s even more important and

even more fundamental to his character and

to the show’s values as a whole.

You see, Steven is empathic.

You might even say he’s super-empathic.

Steven, your mother had healing tears that

flowed from her gem. She felt real love for

those around her. She felt real sorrow when

they were hurt. You have the Rose Quartz

gem now. I know that power is in you too.

Empathy is the ability to understand and

share the feelings or emotions of another

person. But empathy is not just feeling bad

for someone else. It’s actually feeling what

they feel, and that’s an important distinction.

It’s what separates sympathy from empathy.

Spirit, show yourself!

It’s close. I can feel it. It’s hurting

and obsessed.

Wait, how do you know?

I don’t, but I could just feel it. She was

yelling, and she was really freaked out.

As season one begins the show’s structure

seems to be following a fairly standard

“monster of the week” adventure show formula.

But then in episode 23, which is appropriately

titled "Monster Buddies," we start to get

the sense that this is not just a show about

going on fun adventures and fighting baddies,

like a lot of other shows in the same genre

tend to be. At the beginning of that episode

we see the Gems fighting a monster just

like they have many times before...

Pearl: One more attack should do it.

Jonathan: -- but this time Steven reacts

a little differently.

Steven: Yikes! Your arm.

Did you see it? No? Okay. Let’s rewind it

and watch it again. Ok. So, notice that

the creature's arm is damaged during this

encounter.

Steven: Yikes! Your arm--

Jonathan: And seeing this, Steven expresses

concern for her well-being, while grabbing

at his own arm. Essentially, Steven is

super sensitive to others. He possesses the

capacity to vicariously experience other

people's feelings. When someone else is

hurting, Steven hurts. He feels their pain

as if it were his own.

This kind of super-sensitivity is especially

rare for boy heroes because in our culture

emotional intuition is still stereotypically

associated with women. And as such, media

often frames it as overly sensitive

"girl stuff." But on this show,

things work very differently.

Steven: Well, I think you're pretty great.

Jonathan: In this universe, it’s common

for male characters to act in caring and

emotionally sensitive ways.

You can watch my full episode about that

right here.

Later, Steven makes friends with another

monster and names her Centipeetle.

At first, they're both afraid of each other.

But remember from my last video that being

afraid is not a negative trait on this show.

And Steven's fear is reasonable; the monster

is indeed dangerous. But Steven is resolute

in his conviction that monsters are not

all bad, that there is still good in them.

Steven: It looks so scared. Uh, hi.

Aw, it's okay.

Look. Please don't be scared of me.

See, I'm not going to hurt you.

Jonathan: Now critically, Steven's belief

that his new monster buddy can be redeemed

is not framed by the show as childish

idealism. Instead it's looked upon as

honorable and commendable.

Stop! You don't need to fight!

This isn't you! You're not a monster anymore.

You're more than that.

The larger lore of this universe also works

to validate Steven's empathetic convictions.

Recall that the Crystal Gems all have

extraterrestrial superpowers because of

their gemstones. In the episode "Ocean Gem,"

we learn that all the monsters our heroes

have been fighting each week are actually

gems themselves, or more accurately they

once were gems but they've been corrupted.

I can't believe Lapis would do this.

Gems shouldn't fight each other.

We're always fighting gems, actually.

What?!

Oh, how do I put this?

All gems aren't necessarily good.

All those monsters we fight used to be

just like us! Right, Pearl?

Yes, but they've become corrupted and

broken. We have to take care of them,

subdue them, contain them. It's the best

we can do for them for now.

This also illustrates one of the core values

of the show, which is the belief in the

possibility of transformative redeption.

The truth is Rose Quartz had tried to use

her powers to save these monsters too.

But she was never able to heal them.

Never? But if she couldn't do it.

Who knows. Maybe when you have better

control of your powers, you might help

them in ways even your mother couldn't.

Even this one.

Steven: I'll keep it safe.

Jonathan: And Steven, along with his

supercharged empathy, are often the voice

of that message.

Steven: Wow...wait for me Centipeetle.

I promise I'll heal you up someday.

He sees the redemptive possibility in

everyone and everything, even when the much

more experienced gems may be a little

skeptical. For Steven, no one is unworthy

of compassion or empathy, even monsters.

Steven, be careful.

But this just happened. Maybe I can do

something. Jasper, it's okay. I'm here.

I just wanna try and heal you.

It's uncommon to see this kind of empathy

on television, especially when expressed

for the "bad guys." While it is true that

most "good guys" in media do demonstrate

some empathy for their friends, their

family, and their allies, those feelings

are very rarely extended to their enemies.

And it's almost unheard of in programming

aimed at children, which tends, more than

most, to break narratives down into simplistic

good versus evil, easy to digest lessons.

[Duck Tales theme song plays]

Jonathan: In most animated shows, the "bad

guys" simply can't be reformed. If you look

at everything from, say, Duck Tales to the

Batman universe, you'll notice that the

villains are by and large framed as evil

by nature. Villainy is not just something

they do. Villainy is what they are.

The prisoner will stand.

Jonathan: So any attempt at rehabilitation

is ultimately doomed to fail.

And the belief in the possibility of

redemption is therefore often framed as

foolish or naive or worse—something

that can actually endanger society itself.

But on Steven Universe things are more

nuanced. Here, the "bad guys" don't just

do bad things because they're intrinsically

or inherently evil. They do bad things

because of their history and their

circumstances. Now the bad guys are no less

dangerous, but it does mean there always

exists at least the possibility for

redemption. And that possibility is what

guides and shapes Steven's actions.

Wait. Let me try talking to it.

Hey. How's it going? Can you hear me?

Are you in there somewhere?

And this brings us to the final point

I want to make in this video. A critical

part of Steven's super-empathy is that

it's always actionable. The actionable part

is key. Not only does he feel for others...

Steven: Oh, oh! She's coming back!

Jonathan: ...he also does something about it.

Steven: Alright, everyone be supportive.

Jonathan: Steven consistently intervenes to

de-escalate and resolve conflicts.

Lapis! I don't want to fight anymore.

I said I don't wanna fight!

Jonathan: In the episode "Ocean Gem," we

get to see Steven using all of his

superpowers to de-escalate a potentially

cataclysmic situation. He ends the fight

and ultimately resolves the conflict by

talking it out with the antagonist.

Lapis, I'm coming up to see you.

Steven: Lapis.

What are you doing here, Steven?

What? I... No. What are you doing here?

This thing, the ocean, this is crazy!

Can't we work this out? We gems should

be friends.

Jonathan: Steven talks with her, he listens

to her, and he treats her with empathy

and kindness.

I just want to go home.

Jonathan: In the end, he even uses his

healing powers to mend her broken gem, even

after she's tried to hurt him,

his friends, and his family.

Thank you, Steven.

Now it's not all kumbaya in Beach City.

The Crystal Gems are not pacifists. Our

heroes are often forced into battle, but

when that happens Steven still expresses

his discomfort, even when

he's under attack by mutants.

Steven: They're all over us. They're

attacking the drill. What do we do?

Jonathan: So win or lose, the specter of

violence and confrontation weighs heavy

on his heart.

Something doesn't feel right about this.

Then use the D-pad.

No. It's just, these things. We can't just

leave their gems out there. They're going

to form again later. If I could just bubble

them, then they'd be safe. Come on.

We've got to help them.

And of course there's tension and discord

among friends from time to time, sometimes

even leading to physical fights, but on

this show those issues are ultimately

resolved through means other than violence

and domination, often at the insistence

of Steven himself.

So it was all my fault? Hoho, you totally

weren't even trying to sync with my dancing.

You should know how I dance by now.

Steven: Stop!

Come on, guys. Please stop fighting.

Why don't you just leave!

Admit it. I'm just an embarrassment to you.

Amethyst, please, no more! I know you're

upset, but I can't bear to watch you two

hurt each other.

It's Steven's undying faith in the

possibility of redemptive transformation

that drives his efforts to prevent fights.

You, listen to me now. You are talking

about things that you do not understand.

Garnet, stop, please! It's not worth it.

We're done here. Let's just go home.

Wait, don't! Come on, baby melon.

We have to stop this.

If that thing hurt you, so help me, I'll...

No! It didn't do anything. Garnet, don't

hurt it! I accidentally let it out of its

bubble, but it didn't even try to hurt me.

It's not like the other monsters.

It's just scared and confused.

Everything that we've talked about in this

episode is extremely rare for boy heroes

on TV. But it really shouldn't be.

The world could use a whole lot more of

Steven's superpowers. We need more role

models for boys where empathy and

de-escalation and diplomacy are framed as

brave and heroic behaviors.

Haha, yeah. That's what I'm talking about.

You got that much needed counterpoint to

our cynical worldview.

The good news is that unlike a magical

shield or healing saliva, you don't need

an interstellar gemstone to practice

empathic behaviors. Now it may take us

some time to learn how to wield them

effectively, but we all have access to

those very human superpowers.

I hope you enjoyed this in depth exporation

of themes and messages on Steven Universe.

If you'd like to see more videos related

to media and manhood, you can help fund

the Pop Culture Detective Agency

over on our Patreon page.